Monday, December 5, 2011

God Moment: God is My Warrior

God is My Warrior
by Sarah Witenhafer

Tired of trying to please my distant heavenly Father, I had given up. Our business had failed, friends were gone, even our church had died. I didn’t think my faith would make it 5 years. I didn’t think my marriage would last much longer. I was sinking and, in my mind, God was displeased with my lack of faith.  

I felt used.

Neglected.

Alone.

So I lost myself in writing a fictional story about grace, and battles, and Roman soldiers who fought to the death. Their bravery captivated me, dulling the pain of abandonment. Their glorious victories shimmered in my dark world. I devoured all things Roman and fell in love with the warrior image. Why?

Because I longed for someone who would fight to keep me.

Then out of curiosity one day I picked up my daily devotional. What was today’s reading?

“The Lord is a man of war.” Exodus 15:3

Curiosity turned to hunger as I read about the Lord fighting for His people, putting on the breastplate of righteousness, and the helmet of salvation. He would fight with all His power to save me, wearing a red cloak (just like the Roman centurion in my novel), a symbol of His determination.  

My eyes were staring at the page when I sensed His presence in the room. It was as if He stood looking over my shoulder as I read. Then His voice echoed through my heart. “You’ve forgotten I AM your warrior.”

Over the next few months, the Lord pursued me through whatever I read, often dropping a scripture in my path that related to something I had learned about Rome. At every turn, it seemed, He stepped into the warrior image I craved.

At the same time, a miracle took place in my marriage. My husband began pursuing me too. The man who had rarely invested himself into my life read my novel, and spent hours helping me format it. He took me on long walks and started praying with me. Most significant, Dale reassured me he would do whatever it took to make our marriage last and to provide for our family. He courted me until love resurrected what had died between us. Our new life together far exceeded the old.

Slowly, through both God and my husband, by the end of writing my book, grace was more than fiction for me. I realized I hadn’t been abandoned. My faith didn’t depend on me, and the Lord would never let me fall away. I could run to the ends of the earth, and He would be there to meet me. God Himself held me in His fierce grasp. After all, a great warrior never stops fighting to save the ones He loves.

Scripture readings: Exodus 15:3; Isaiah 59; Hosea 2:14-20

If you liked this post, you also might enjoy more of this story at http://sarahwitenhafer.com/?p=204 .


About Sarah:

[Ed. Note: We stole this directly from her own blog - it was too fun to not share it here!]

Sarah Witenhafer is an exciting new author (hey, I get to write this section) who is married to her best friend of twenty years, Dale Witenhafer. Together, they have managed to raise three, only mildly-disturbed, but beautiful daughters.

Sarah (how weird to write in third person about myself) enjoys home schooling her youngest child, being cheer mom (aka Twinkie to 14 bubbly young women) for her middle daughter, and confidant to her oldest who’s in college. In her spare time (that’s 12am to 2am) she writes.  Please leave a comment somewhere… she… I needs contact with the outside world.




Sarah offers her book Tamed for the 99-Hour 99-Cent Event.

















      

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a mighty story Sarah! It is very filled with energy and hope, I'm overwhelmed. I'm so glad that God placed you in my life, you are a great warrior for the kingdome.
Love you!
Naty

Anonymous said...

that would be kingdom...no coffee in my system yet...LOL!

Unknown said...

That was beautiful and meaningful. God...our warrior...hmmm...(exhaling moment)...aaahhhhh...music to my ears.

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